http://6abc.com/police-brothers-arrested-in-death-of-father-in-spring-garden/2389354/Police have arrested two brothers for the death of the father protecting his young daughter during a robbery in the city's Spring Garden neighborhood.
A 16-year-old, and his 21-year-old brother were taken into custody. Police say the 16-year-old was the alleged shooter.
38-year-old Gerard Grandzol was fatally shot just after 8 p.m. Thursday in the 1500 block of Melon Street, where he lived.
Police the suspects approached him, took his wallet and tried to steal his SUV with his 2-year-old daughter inside, but he wouldn't let them. As a result, the suspects killed him.
"They wanted the car and he wouldn't give up the car. And they shot him for it," said Philadelphia Police Captain John Ryan.
Neighbors quickly rushed to Grandzol's side.
"By the time we ran up to him, people were bandaging him, holding him," one resident told Action News. "And right in the head, right in the face, there was a pool of blood."
Grandzol had just parked the family SUV when two men approached. One was armed with a gun.
The victim was hit at least once in the head at point blank range.
He was rushed by police to Hahnemann University Hospital, where he later died.
Investigators say the suspects are in their late teens or early twenties and the motive was to rob Grandzol. They also say they believe the attack was random.
Residents were left in shock.
"He loved Philadelphia. He loved Spring Garden," another neighbor said.
That neighbor, who knew Grandzol, did not want to be identified out of fear of retaliation. However, he says he was a member of the Spring Garden Civic Association with Grandzol.
The neighbor says what happened Thursday night is the result of a buildup of violence over many months.
"There was a number of serious muggings that started taking place. Primarily they were teenagers attacking men and women."
So many neighbors say he loved his family, especially his two daughters more than anything.
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